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Kairos Times: April - May 2006 Vol 5, #4
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| A child born in a wealthy country is likely to consume,
waste, and pollute more in his or her lifetime than fifty children
born in developing nations. Our energy-burning lifestyles are
pushing our planet to the point of no return. It is dawning
on us at last that the life of our world is as vulnerable as
the children we raise. |
-- George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, UK |
Take Action
- New KAIROS video: Borderless
- Life, not death: Stop the HIV and AIDS crisis
- Security certificates make it to the Supreme Court--contribute a solidarity banner!
Updates…
- KAIROS holds mining and human rights forum
- Religious investors target Alcan about community rights
- Looming humanitarian crisis in Palestine as aid cut off
- Human rights situation in the Philippines worsens
- New on our site: KAIROS human rights submissions
to the UN
New KAIROS video: Borderless
Undocumented workers in Canada hit the mainstream media this spring. But most Canadians know very little about the lives of the people who hold up our economy. KAIROS is pleased to contribute to public understanding of the struggles and dreams of undocumented workers through our new twenty-five minute educational video Borderless. Geraldo, a Costa Rican construction worker, and Angela, a second-generation Caribbean domestic worker, tell of their struggles against labour exploitation. Against the odds, they work to build a future for families painfully separated by restrictive immigration laws. Viewers meet an often-invisible workforce and reflect on the hidden costs of sustaining our first world economy. Borderless is directed by Gemini-nominated filmmaker Min Sook Lee. The video is available May 6 in DVD or VHS format, in French and in English.
The issue of “illegal” immigrants has also gripped our neighbour to the south. A recent commentary from the magazine The Progressive offers a perspective that would not be at all out of place here in Canada.
The Toronto launch of Borderless will take place May 6 at Ryerson University. The Vancouver launch of Borderless is June 2, 7pm at St Andrews Wesley United Church. (For more information email Heather Macdonald at hmacdonald ) A Montreal launch is planned and details will be available soon. If you would like to organize a screening of Borderless in your community, please contact Tanya Chute Molina, Refugee and Migration Program Coordinator at 1-877-403-8933 X 252 or 416-463-5312 X252.
Order your copy of Borderless online at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/resources/orders.asp#borderless
Life, not death… Stop the HIV and
AIDS crisis
“I have set before you life and death… therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30: 19)
By the end of 2005, 25 million people had died due to AIDS, 40.3 million were living with HIV, and an estimated 15 million were orphaned. The depth of this human tragedy presents an immense challenge to our global community.
Between May and August, leaders and policy makers will have three chances to truly respond to the gravity of the AIDS epidemic. From May 31 to June 2, the United Nations will host a review of governments’ efforts to fulfill the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. Between July 15 and 17, leaders of the world’s most powerful countries, the G8, will meet in St. Petersburg. Then more than 15,000 people will gather in Toronto at the 16th International AIDS Conference (August 13-19).
KAIROS and the churches are participating in a global ecumenical pre-conference in advance of the International AIDS Conference, and in the months leading up to that event, we are urging you take action.
We invite you to go to the KAIROS website for educational resources that will help you understand the issues: we have a series of fact sheets, a bulletin insert, and an upcoming PowerPoint presentation on the AIDS crisis. You can find all this and more on our HIV and AIDS page: http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/economic/hivaids.asp
Then take action: send a letter to Prime Minister Harper calling for action in the face of the grave challenges presented by AIDS. Visit the KAIROS website for a sample letter. And pray that the God of Life stirs us to compassion and justice for the long haul.
For more information, please contact Sara Stratton, Network and
Campaign Coordinator, at 1 877 403 8933 x241 or
sstratton
Security certificates make it to the Supreme
Court--contribute a solidarity banner!
This is a note from the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada, a community-based, national group dedicated to stopping a provision in Canadian law that allows persons accused of “security threats” to be detained indefinitely, in some cases in solitary confinement, without ever being able to see the evidence or accusations against them.
On June 13-15, the Supreme Court of Canada will be tackling some of the most important civil rights questions in years when it hears the cases of the secret trial security certificates. Community groups of all kinds have planned activities leading up to that week and during the hearings in Ottawa. There will be a Freedom Caravan from Toronto to Ottawa, many vigils and demonstrations in Ottawa, and much more.
So where do you come in? The Supreme Court has a large lawn which we would love to fill with messages of support from across the country. We’re hoping folks can join us in encouraging schools, churches, human rights groups, union locals, and other community organizations to contribute. If you’re unable to be in Ottawa that week, contribute through the making of simple banners that can be sent to us and then displayed on the lawn. Create a one-line message from your community to our top court!
If you would like to make a simple banner but are stuck for what
to say, let us know and we can provide more suggestions. Please
let us know by email if you plan to send along a banner. Banners
need to be received no later than May 31 at: PO Box 73620, 509 St
Clair. Ave. West Toronto, ON M6C 1C0. For more information on the
overall campaign to stop secret trials, see http://www.homesnotbombs.ca/secrettrials.htm
or contact us at
tasc
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of page
KAIROS holds mining and human rights forum
Over the past few years KAIROS has focused more of its work on conflicts related to resource extraction. A number of our global partners connect with communities facing conflict, human rights violations and severe ecological damage because of Canadian-based mining operations. As mineral, oil and gas prices continue to rise, so do profits. Related conflicts and environmental impacts aren’t going to go away any time soon and Canada is at the heart of it. Kairos Times readers may remember our December 2005 urgent action about a mine in Guatelama, and we’ve written many letters to various governments regarding resource extraction.
Global partners, Aboriginal representatives and Canadian church and civil society groups gathered in Toronto this month for a forum on resource extraction. It was a chance to create global strategies that honour the right of communities and Indigenous people to decide what kind of operations take place on their lands. And it was an opportunity to link the global and local faces of resource extraction and its impacts.
Partners included Ana Maria Alvarado Garcia of Mexico, Rafael Epiayu of Colombia, Abdulai Darimani of Ghana, and South African Thabo Madihlabai, and Art Manuel of British Columbia, as well as many civil society groups. Partners then traveled to Ottawa to get the ear of senior government officials, including the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada, and Members of Parliament from the opposition parties. KAIROS is asking the federal government to invite representatives from mining-impacted communities in the global South to participate in five national roundtables this year on the mining industry. We are also increasing pressure for federal legislation governing the overseas activities of Canadian resource extraction companies. Year Two of our water campaign will include a focus on the pollution and over use of water by companies involved in resource extraction.
For more information, contact Ian Thomson, Corporate Social Responsibility Program Coordinator, 1 877 403 8933 x229 or ithomson
Religious investors target Alcan about
community rights
Major Canadian companies are facing shareholder proposals from religious institutional investors again this year, with a particular focus on human rights.
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate of Montreal have filed a shareholder proposal with Alcan Inc. regarding the Utkal Alumina Project in the State of Orissa, India. For over a decade, Alcan has been a partner in this controversial project, which proposes to develop a mine and alumina processing facility in the region of Kashipur.
Alcan’s annual general meeting was held on Thursday, April 27, 2006, in Montreal. The proposal won 37% of the AGM’s vote. Congratulations to the sisters and to the RRSE! the Globe and Mail noted, this was “unusually high support for a proposal that is opposed by a company board.” "It's a clear signal that shareholders are more aware of social impacts," said Lise Parent, a spokesperson for the Sisters.
The shareholder proposal asks Alcan to appoint an independent advisory
committee to make recommendations to improve the project’s
impact assessment, in particular its narrow definition of “project-affected”
peoples. In order to secure social license to operate, it argues
that Alcan must respect human rights, including the right to free,
prior and informed consent (FPIC) of local communities who will
be affected by the project.
Since 2000, the Oblates have been in dialogue with Alcan on this
issue through the Regroupement pour la responsabilité sociale
et l’équité (RRSE), a Quebec-based network of
religious institutional investors. Their decision to file a shareholder
proposal was not taken lightly. It is intended to push the company
to review its past record in Orissa and improve its human rights
and community consultation practices.
KAIROS is encouraging its member churches and other religious institutions to vote for the proposal, if they hold shares in the company. The Presbyterian Church in Canada and the United Church of Canada, along with several religious orders, will be voting their proxies in favour of the proposal.
The next issue of Kairos Times will include information about a shareholder proposal filed with Bombardier Inc. that also deals with human rights.
For more information, please contact: Ian Thomson, Program Coordinator,
Corporate Social Responsibility. Tel: 416-463-5312 ext. 229 E-mail:
ithomson
Looming humanitarian crisis in Palestine as aid cut off
Tensions in Israel and Palestine continue to escalate. Rather than accepting the formula of peaceful negotiations, both sides are upping their rhetoric, using violence as a means of obtaining political goals, and retreating from their obligations to observe existing Israeli-Palestinian agreements.
Meanwhile, average Palestinian and Israeli civilians continue to suffer. Palestinians are subjected to serious violations of their human rights. Israelis live in fear and lack security. Both are losing hope that a just and lasting peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be reached.
On March 29, Canada announced that it is suspending all direct contact with Hamas members of the Palestinian Authority and is suspending all projects providing direct assistance to the PA and restructuring projects which may be of indirect benefit to the PA. Four projects with a total value of $7.34 million over four years have already been suspended. Other donor countries are also withholding aid from the Palestinian Authority. Israel is withholding from the Palestinian Authority $50 million per month in taxes and duties that it collects from Palestinians on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
The withholding of international aid is making the existing humanitarian crisis far worse. The Occupied Palestinian Territories have a population of 3.8 million (2.4 million in the West Bank and 1.4 million in the Gaza Strip). Approximately 42% of the population (1.6 million) are registered refugees. In 2005, unemployment reached 28% (35% in Gaza and 25% in the West Bank). Approximately half of the population, or 1.8 million, lives below the official poverty line of US $2.10 per day. Subsistence poverty, or the inability to afford basic survival, is estimated at 16%. Israel’s construction of the Wall, worsened by its policies of curfews, closures and restrictions on movement, are violating the most basic human rights of Palestinians to education, health care, safe water, adequate sanitation and a clean environment.
If donor countries continue to withhold funds, the Palestinian territories will be thrown into a deep depression. Personal income is expected to drop 30% this year alone. The Palestinian economy is expected to shrink by 27% in 2006 - a one-year contraction that compares to the Depression in the United States. By 2007 the GDP would shrink by more than 30 per cent from 2005 levels, unemployment would increase to 44% and the poverty rate to 72%.
In April KAIROS sent a letter to Minister MacKay expressing concern over Canada’s reaction to recent developments in the Middle East: http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/media/letters/ltrMacKay060410.asp
We continue to support our partners during this time of crisis.
For more information on the situation in Palestine –Israel,
or to learn more about KAIROS partners there, please contact Hanadi
Loubani, Global Partnerships: Middle East program coordinator, at
1 877 403 8933 x239 or
hloubani
Human rights situation in the Philippines worsens
Protection and promotion of human rights in the Philippines continue to be a big concern. In October 2005 KAIROS issued an urgent action after yet more killings of human rights activities, including church members. We thank you for your hundreds of letters and phone calls in response to the alarming increase of targeted killings perpetrated against members of progressive organizations, including members of the church, human rights defenders and trade unions.
But now the situation has actually worsened. A February 2006 recent
report released by KARAPATAN, an alliance of human rights groups
in the Philippines, stated that “the present human rights
violations in the Philippines worsened as the Arroyo government,
beset with a severe economic and political crisis, intensified its
repression and use of state terror against the people and the opposition.
The number of human rights violations in 2005 was the highest ever
recorded since the Marcos dictatorship.”
KARAPATAN documented 874 cases of human rights violations with 99,011
individual victims from January to November 30, 2005. The violations
affected 14,302 families in 288 communities.
In February 24, 2006, anticipating a groundswell of protesters marching
to the streets to commemorate the toppling of the Marcos dictatorship
in February 1986 and to protest against human rights abuses and
other forms of atrocities committed by the military, President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo declared Presidential Proclamation 1017 (PP1017),
placing the whole country under a state of emergency.
International pressure, including efforts by KAIROS member churches, forced the Arroyo government to lift the emergency law in early March. But the military and police continue to use excessive violence and force in dispersing street rallies and peaceful demonstrations. See the United Church of Canada’s related action at http://www.united-church.ca/action/philippines/060310.shtm
Sharon Ruiz-Duremdes, national secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, has issued an open letter calling on partners worldwide to speak against this continuing disregard of human rights. She asked partners to continue to write letters to authorities in the Philippines to stop the killings, investigate rights violations and bring to justice those responsible. She also asked partners to write their own respective governments to ask the Philippine government to adhere to international human rights standards and covenants.
This virtual declaration of martial law was not about preventing lawless violence or rebellion. It certainly was not about responding to a clear and present danger to the safety and integrity of the Philippine state and the Filipino people. PP 1017 and the repression which continues are about saving a presidency weakened by widespread electoral cheating and corruption. They are about survival politics and silencing opposition.
Immediately following the declaration of PP 1017, the military arrested and detained people belonging to the opposition and progressive organizations. Targeted killings continue right now, carried out by members of the military and paramilitary groups. No one is brought to justice. Members of Congress clearly identified with the left were issued arrest warrants and have been subjected to harassment and intimidation.
An update on the human rights situation from the US government
can be found at http://www.state.ov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61624.htm
For more information, please contact Connie Sorio, Global Partnerships
Coordinator for Asia-Pacific at (416) 463-5312 ext 240 or at
csorio
KAIROS human rights submissions to the UN
In the last edition of Kairos Times we explained the new Human
Rights Council. Even as the United Nations brought in this new (and
improved) mechanism for taking on human rights abusers, KAIROS made
its annual human rights reports to the United Nations. In addition
to our usual country foci we addressed corporate social responsibility
and justice for migrants. You can read them here: http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/humanrights/advocacy.asp
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